Experimental investigation on the natural absorption on the surface of sandy layer impregnated with liquid desiccant

This paper presents an investigation on the natural absorption of water vapour of the gaseous-air mixture on the horizontal surface of a sandy layer impregnated with calcium chloride as the working desiccant. Seven layers with different values of desiccant to sand mass ratio in the range from 0.1 to 0.4 are studied. Isothermal absorption is assumed in this analysis. The effect of desiccant concentration as well as Grashof number on the mass transfer coefficient is discussed. Also, the effect of the mixing ratio (desiccant/sand) in the bed on the rate of absorption is demonstrated. Experimental results show that the mass transfer coefficient is highly affected by the desiccant concentration in the bed. Also, it is found that the potential of mass transfer rapidly decreases with a decrease in mixing ratio. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.